Michael Hofherr, who has been serving as the interim CIO since June, is set to become vice president and CIO effective March 1.Credit: Courtesy of OSU

Ohio State has named a chief information officer nearly nine months after the former CIO resigned.

Michael Hofherr, who has been serving as the interim CIO since June 2013, is set to become vice president and CIO effective March 1, pending the OSU Board of Trustees approval, according to a Monday OSU press release.

Hofherr assumed the interim role after former CIO Kathy Starkoff notified then-Provost and Executive Vice President Joseph Alutto of her resignation June 21. Starkoff had served in the position since 2008, and her tenure included a data breach scandal that put the identities of about 760,000 people in jeopardy.

Hofherr was the associate vice president for distance education and eLearning prior to becoming interim CIO. Before that, he was the director of learning technology, according to the release.

Hofherr earned $169,830 before assuming the role of interim CIO. His new salary as CIO is set to be $230,000 annually, OSU spokeswoman Amy Murray said in an email Monday.

Murray was not able to provide his salary as interim CIO by Monday night.

Hofherr holds a Bachelor of Science in communications media from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Science in instructional systems from Pennsylvania State University, according to the release.

Starkoff’s salary was $319,908 as CIO.

On Oct. 22, 2010, OSU discovered that a server, which falls under the responsibilities of the Office of the Chief Information Officer, had been breached. OSU notified university affiliates on Dec. 15, 2012 that a hacker had accessed the server, which contained names, dates of birth, addresses and Social Security numbers.

Starkoff, however, did not have any email records containing the phrase “data breach” before Dec. 5, 2010, according to documents obtained by The Lantern through open records requests at the time.

Current OSU Provost and Executive Vice President Joseph Steinmetz said he is excited about Hofherr’s permanent appointment.

“I am pleased that Mike Hofherr has agreed to serve as vice president and CIO,” Steinmetz said in a released statement. “He has successfully moved the university’s learning technology initiatives forward and provided extraordinary leadership as interim CIO. I look forward to continuing our work together.”

Hofherr said he, too, is enthusiastic about his role becoming a permanent one.

“I’m excited and grateful for the opportunity to lead the university’s information technology enterprise,” Hofherr said in a released statement. “Ohio State is on a remarkable path in integrating learning with technology and I look forward to continuing our progress.”